


Scuff Up Our Shoes

by Multishipperlove



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Dog Trinket (Critical Role), Family Issues, Gen, Hiking, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Syldor Vessar's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multishipperlove/pseuds/Multishipperlove
Summary: The twins get to take care of their sister for a weekend, finally able to make good on some birthday promises. Not everything goes as planned, but they still have a great time together.(Sequel to Dinner and Diatribes, should be able to stand on it's own)
Relationships: Keyleth/Vax'ildan (Critical Role), Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia, Shaun Gilmore/Vax'ildan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Scuff Up Our Shoes

**Author's Note:**

> I finally manged to write the long planned sequel to Dinner and Diatribes! Didn't intend for this to get this long, but here we are, and I'm still not done.  
> First chapter is just the twins with their little sister, the next chapter will also feature everyone else.  
> As always, enjoy the fic, and please let me know what you think!

Vax was used to being a light sleeper. It didn't take much to wake him, the quiet creaking of his door and the little bit of morning light poking through, in his otherwise darkened room, was definitely enough to rouse him again. Then he felt his mattress dip down slightly, and groaned as Vex laid a hand on his shoulder to shake him awake.

“I'm up,” he muttered, while also dragging his pillow over his head. “What do you want?”

He heard Vex sigh. “Well, brother. I, uh, was wondering if you'd like to go to the national park with me and Velora today?”

That was enough to at least make him sit up, just to give her a confused look. “What happened to Percy?”

After all the trouble they'd gone through to make sure that the day would go perfectly, he couldn't think of a good reason why Percy would suddenly decide not to come. Unless something had happened, of course, but if it was anything serious he was sure Vex would have said so by now.

And really, they'd spend weeks preparing for this weekend. After Vex and Percy had gifted Velora a coupon to visit the nearby national park with her for her last birthday, they'd still needed to convince their father to let it happen, and make sure everyone actually had some time to spare. In the end they'd even been able to get Syldor to let her spend the night, so they could have dinner with Keyleth and Shaun and maybe even take her shopping the next morning. Or at least to Gilmore's Glorious Goods, which the girl still had a coupon for as well.

All of this was the reason Vax had taken night shifts all week at the diner he worked at, so he could make sure he'd have this evening and the weekend off. And why, in turn, he was respectively tired now.

Vex bit her lip and heaved another sigh. “We got a call this morning, apparently Cassandra got super sick over night.” She saw the look on his face and was quick to reassure her brother. “Nothing life threatening, but she's hardly able to leave the bathroom. So there's no way she can get any official work done today, and Percy had to jump in for her.”

Vax was still not sure he completely understood. “But... Percy isn't even in Whitestone. Wasn't he sleeping over when I got home earlier?”

“He was,” Vex agreed. “He had someone pick him up thirty minutes ago and drive him to the Alabaster Lyceum, which is also where we need to pick up Velora in a bit.”

Vax hadn't missed his sister's use of the word 'we', but he also didn't argue. Even with less than three hours of sleep, he wouldn't miss out on spending a day with his little sister. “Alright, alright... I'll come,” he muttered, finally getting up. He stretched his arms over his head, letting out a huge yawn, and then started to search for fresh clothes. “Fucking rich people and their teleportation circles. Gimme twenty minutes.”

* * *

It took a bit longer than the promised twenty minutes, but eventually they both made it out of the door freshly showered and with their hiking gear packed up. And Trinket, of course, running behind them with way too much energy for Vax' taste.

“Keys,” Vex demanded, stopping in front of Vax' mini van. “You're way too tired to drive.”

“And too tired to argue with you,” he agreed, handing them over before getting settled in the passenger seat. His sister took another moment to get Trinket in the back. They'd long given up on laying out towels or blankets in the back, since it had never really helped with keeping the dog hair at bay. At this point they could just hope to never befriend anyone with a severe dog allergy.

Finally, Vex settled down in the driver's seat beside him, turned on the radio, and carefully backed out of the parking spot. Before they'd even left their neighbourhood, Vax was dozing off again.

Thankfully, his sister didn't wake him up again until they were parked right in front of the Travel and Communication Center of the Lyceum. But then he was roughly shaken awake and forced back out of the car. Trinket had to stay behind, with Vex promising him a quick return. That and a few treats made him lay back down without an issue.

On the way in Vax was still rubbing his eyes, so Vex took over the talking again. She could already tell from the look the receptionist was giving them that he knew they weren't the usual clientele. She had their paperwork ready though, and the years in Syngorn and around her father's friends helped her to keep up her smile and ignore the man's behaviour.

“Looks like everything works out,” the clerk eventually agreed, after giving her ID a much closer look than what either of them felt was necessary. Sending a minor through a teleportation circle on their own required some precautions though, even if she was the daughter of a high ranking diplomat. “Follow me, please.”

He got up, and after sharing a brief look and rolling their eyes, the twins followed. They were left in a small waiting room, with the reassurance that their charge would be brought to them as soon as she arrived. Luckily that didn't take long. Soon enough they could hear footsteps approaching, and as the door to their left opened they were faced with a very excited girl clutching on to her treasured owlbear plushie.

“Vax, Vex! You're here!” She immediately tore away from the guard who had apparently been assigned to her, and the man watched on with a smile as the twins got up and all three siblings smushed together for a group hug.

“Oh man, look at you,” Vax chuckled, once they'd all taken a step back again, and as he gave a playful tug on her hair. “I could have sworn you were smaller the last time we saw you.”

Velora grinned and leaned back against her sister instead, prompting Vex to wrap her arms around the small shoulders. “Mom says I'm growing like the weeds in our garden, too, but I haven't actually checked since my birthday.”

Vax was about to reply again, but the guard behind them cleared his throat. “I'll be off then,” he informed them with a smile. “Unless you need my help finding your way out?”

“No, no we'll be fine,” Vex assured the man. “Thank you so much.”

He replied with a brief nod and then left the three of them alone. Not wanting to waste any time, they headed out immediately. “So how was your trip?” Vex asked, just as they left the building. “Did you have to get up very early?”

“No, not really,” she told them, happily walking between her siblings. “But Dad was too busy to drop me off, he had a servant take me instead.”

“A servant? What about Devana, couldn't she have dropped you off instead?” Vax asked with a frown. He wasn't sure which teleportation circle she'd used in Syngorn, but if the location there was anything like the Lyceum it probably hadn't been the nicest experience to be there all by herself.

“She left earlier this morning to run errands, because he'd promised to take me,” Velora replied with a shrug. “She's probably going to be mad at him if he tells her.”

“Well, he deserves it,” Vex muttered. “But let's focus on you being here now, alright? Look, we got someone else who's very happy to meet you.” And with that she took the last few steps to the car and opened the trunk, finally releasing Trinket. The dog quickly jumped out, giving a few yaps of excitement as he circled them a few times, and did his best to wedge himself between them.

Velora grinned and kneeled down, seemingly delighted to let him slobber all over her face. So while those two were busy with greeting each other, Vex took the girl's backpack from her and put it in the back seat with their other gear.

“Alright, ready to go?” she asked finally, helping the girl to her feet again as she agreed. “We got a whole National Park waiting for us after all, so I hope you're ready.”

Velora looked between her two siblings, suddenly turning a bit confused. “Oh, okay. Is Percy waiting for us at the Park then? I thought he was coming with us?”

“Right, about that,” Vex sighed. “There was a bit of an emergency in Whitestone so he got called away, he wants you to know that he's really sorry though and he'll find a way to make it up to you. But hey, with a bit of luck, he'll be back by dinner.”

Velora deflated a bit, her happy mood from earlier not quite evaporating but definitely taking a hit. “Okay... that's fine though,” she said quickly. “He doesn't have to make it up to me, I know his work is super important.”

“But he made a commitment when he said he'd be here today, it's okay to be upset by that,” Vax told her softly. “Doing something else with you is the least he can do, even if it's not his fault that circumstances changed.” When she just shrugged at that and looked down he reached out again, ruffling her hair. “Either way, we'll still have a lot of fun today, I'm sure. Because guess what, I'm Percy's stand in.”

“You'll be coming with us, you're not just here to pick me up?” she asked, her smile growing once more. “That's pretty cool, I'll take that.”

“Hah, you hear that, Stubby? I'm cool.”

* * *

Vax did his best not to fall asleep again on their continued drive to the Park, instead engaging with the other two a bit more as they started talking in the car.

Velora told them about school, and how her friends had all been a little bit jealous that she got to leave on a weekend trip so close to their exams. In turn, the twins told her about some of the mischief they had gotten up to when still attending the same school, and that definitely helped with passing the time.

Before they knew it, the broad country roads had turned into narrow passages winding through dark woods. Sunlight filtered through the leaves above them, and it wasn't like Vex needed to turn on the car lights just yet, but the loss of light still gave their surroundings a bit of an eerie feeling. It was nice, in Vax' opinion, and he could see Velora looking out the window with a transfixed expression as well.

They passed the entrance a few minutes later, gladly accepting a map and some tourist information from the lady manning the booth at the moment. As Vex started to look for a parking lot that wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg, Vax took a closer look at the map.

“So, Stubby, did you have a route in mind already?” he asked, studying the various paths that lead through the park and their assigned challenge ratings. If it was just the two of them, they could have easily taken one of the longer routes, meant for more experienced hikers. But with Velora in tow, he was sure Vex had picked out something else.

“Yeah, I found one a while ago that should be really nice,” she replied, proving him right. “It allows dogs, as long as they're leashed, and has some nice observation points along the way.”

“Do you think we'll see any owlbears?” Velora asked immediately, as she leaned forward to wedge herself between the two front seats. Vax playfully pushed her back, grinning slightly when he was met with more resistance than he'd expected.

Vex was the one to actually give her an answer, while she finally found a parking spot she seemed to like. “You know I can't promise you that, but we'll just have to wait and see.”

If he was honest, Vax wasn't sure if he really wanted to run into one of these things. There was a reason most people were afraid of the beasts, and it had a lot to do with claws and sharp edged beaks. Not that there had actually been any owlbear attacks in the recent years, but it still sounded like an encounter he would prefer to avoid.

He kept that thought to himself though, and as they all finally got out of the car he turned to Velora with a cheery look. “Maybe we'll get lucky, who knows. But to see anything, we need to start moving. You got everything you need?”

The girl smiled back at him and nodded, taking her backpack as Vex held it out to her. “I got lots of water and food!”

“Great, I think we can cover the rest,” he chuckled, checking his own bag once more for the additional first aid kit, maps, his powerbank, and a heavy duty flashlight. Vex carried the same gear with her, just in case anything happened to one of their bags. She always had an old satellite phone with her as well though, which they'd never needed, but it was another one of those “just in case” things.

Vex also looked about ready to head into the forest, only waiting for the two of them to finally follow. But a last look up and down his little sister had Vax stop. “You got a jacket with you, right?”

She looked at him and frowned, then looked down at the cardigan she was wearing. “Yeah, this one,” she told him.

Vax resisted the urge to facepalm. “That's not really- you really don't have anything else with you?” he asked again. Syngorn rarely got really cold, not even in winter, but surely _someone_ should have realized that sending her over in nothing but a cardigan would be a stupid idea. Well, apparently not.

“If we're in the shadows all day and sweating, there's no way that thing will keep you warm,” he finally explained, when he realized she still looked rather lost. “We need to get you a proper jacket first.”

He looked over to Vex, who had already started wandering a few feet away, no doubt 'hearing the call of the forest' or whatever she always did when they managed to get on one of these little outings. “Vex!” he called over, at least successfully getting her attention. “We need to hit the shop first. Velora needs a jacket.”

“What do you mean she-” She stopped in the middle of her sentence, and Vax shrugged as an answer. Sure, it sucked, especially because the shops in the park were all horribly overpriced, but they really didn't have much of a choice.

So they accepted the change in plans for what it was, and tried not to be too obviously annoyed about it. After all, it wasn't Velora's fault, and they could both see that she looked a bit uncomfortable now. Vex quickly laid an arm around her, tucking her closer again as they walked.

“Well, let's see it from the positive side, it just means we'll be hitting the souvenir stage early,” she joked, hoping to cheer her up a bit. “Let's have a look around, maybe you find something else you want to watch out for while we're out there.”

The shop was right next to the tourist information, and both buildings were- well, not exactly overrun, but definitely not empty, either. They pushed past a family with two little boys at the entrance, where Vex had to tie trinket down, and dodged some more people inside, just to make it to the clothes section.

There were a lot of t-shits and hoodies, all with big logos of the national park on the front, or simple nature prints. Cute, but not what they were looking for. Vax could already see Velora's eyes flitting from one thing to the next, catching on some things longer than others, and he tried to file all of it away for later. Finally, they found some jackets that actually looked to be functional.

“You wanna try some on?” Vex asked, trying to guess her sister's size as she held out a few. “Is your favorite color still green?”

“Yeah... are you- are you sure though?” Velora asked back. “I know they're expensive. You don't have to.”

“Nonsense, you need a jacket, so we'll get you one,” Vex assured her gently. “The last thing we want is for you to get sick today, or even just be cold all the time. Don't worry about it, okay?”

The girl didn't seem quite convinced yet, but at least she let Vex force her into a few of the jackets, until they found one that fit pretty well. She ended up picking the purple one over the green though, prompting Vax to make a joke about how she would need to raid Gilmore's wardrobe at some point.

They brought it up to the counter, and Vax distracted Velora by making fun of an incredibly tacky snowglobe while Vex paid. She swallowed a bit at the prize, but remembered that the nightshifts Vax had been pulling did not only mean he had the weekend off, but were paid a little bit better as well. Not much, but it made the extra charge more bearable.

Picking up Trinket again on the way out, they finally, _finally_ ,started walking towards the path Vex had picked out for them. White signs with blue dots marked the way along the trees, easy enough to follow, and the trail was still wide enough that they could easily ignore the few other people they met along the way.

It didn't take long before Vex started pointing things out to them, from small plants and mushrooms to all the different birds they came across. She even stopped a couple of times so they could get a closer look at something, and within the first two hours, Velora had already stuffed her pockets with all kinds of interesting looking rocks, small feathers, and other muck lying around.

Vax was sure that Syldor would be absolutely horrified if he saw her like that, and that made the whole thing even better. He grew a bit more quiet though, mostly letting the other two talk. His lack of sleep was catching up with him.

Eventually, they reached a small clearing with picnic tables set up, and a small river flowing near by. “Should we take our first break?” Vex asked, looking back to the two others. Receiving a shrug from Velora and a relieved, and maybe just the tiniest bit desperate, nod from her brother, she smiled slightly and claimed one of the tables for them.

Velora started to line up her little treasures on the wooden top, as Vex got out some of the lighter snack foods. She pushed one of the water bottles closer to her brother, who'd sat down and almost immediately rested his head on the table, looking like he was about to fall asleep again any moment.

“Velora, darling, do me a favor and clean your hands in the stream,” she told their little sister, hoping it would wash off the worst of the dirt. For everything else, they had hand sanitizer. While Velora did just that, Vex nudged her brother's shoulder. “Hey, you okay? Do we need to move a bit slower?”

“Hmmmnah. I'm good,” he muttered, giving her a weary smile. He sat up properly at least though, taking a few swigs from the bottle she'd offered him. “It's fun. And you know what, with you playing plant lexicon the whole way, I was thinking, next time we should take Keyleth.”

“So I can watch you two making gooey eyes at each other the whole time? Not a chance.”

“As if you and Percy are any better,” he huffed, amused. “And yes, maybe, but also for another reason. You know how much she knows about all that stuff as well, I'm sure it would be fun.”

Vex shrugged, finally settling down beside him. “Sure, we can ask her next time. I didn't know she was into hiking?”

He grimaced a bit at that. “Actually, not sure if she is. It's always just kinda been _our_ thing, you know? I never asked. But she sure likes plants, so... I don't know, we don't have to.”  
  


“Hey, doofus, slow down,” she chuckled, nudging his side again. “I really don't mind. Let's bring Gilmore and Percy, too, if they want to. We'll just be really disgusting and make it some kind of weird double date.”

She got a soft laugh in return, and Vax nodded. “Sure, that sounds good. I- yeah, I think I'd like that. Let's ask them, some time.”

Velora came back at that point, settling down again with a smile and accepting Vex' hand sanitizer without any protest. She was the first one done with her food as well, and then seemed to be patiently waiting for the twins to finish up. Vex turned to her eventually, giving her a bit of an amused look. “You don't have to sit here and wait, you know. Look around a bit, see if you can find more interesting stuff.”

“Are you sure?” Velora asked, frowning again. “Shouldn't I stay close to you or something?”

“As long as you stay where we can see you, it's fine,” Vax assured her with a shrug, while cutting his apple into continuously smaller pieces. He wasn't too motivated to eat. “Just, you know, don't do anything stupid.”

“Like what?”

“Like falling into the stream, for example. Or climbing trees. I'm pretty sure that's not allowed here,” Vex chimed in again, stealing one of the fruit pieces from her brother.

Velora still seemed surprised that they let her roam around on her own at all, and apparently feared that they would change their mind again. She was out of her seat faster than they could blink.

When she was already halfway back to the little river she turned around again, calling back to her siblings again. “Can I take Trinket?”

“He's not allowed to leave the path, sorry!” Vex called back, and watched as her sister nodded and then went back to the spot where she'd washed her hands earlier. Whatever it was she'd found, it seemed to be interesting enough to keep her attention for a while, and they were both able to finish their own rations without boring the girl too much.

Once back on the path, she told them about the fish she'd seen, and proceeded to describe them in as much detail as possible, asking Vex once more to identify each and everyone of them. In the few cases where Vex was stumped, Vax made up new ones, with increasingly absurd names and abilities.

He was in the middle of telling his sisters about the 'Red Striped Bloodsucker Fish' (ignoring Velora's question if fish even _had_ blood), when Vex grinned and shook her head at him. “Vampirism, huh? I know a plant that helps against that.”

“A plant? No way, vampires aren't even real,” Velora protested, changing her focus from one twin to the other again.

“Oh they used to be, it's just that no one's seen one in a few decades,” Vex insisted. “That doesn't mean they don't exist anymore.” Seeing that the girl still looked unimpressed, she shrugged. “Alright, to be fair, glissfoil also has a lot of other uses. It can cure infections, helps against minor illnesses, and you can make very tasty tea out of it.”

“Which also happens to help against hangovers,” Vax mumbled, chuckling softly when Vex, expectedly, slugged him in the shoulder for his comment.

“She doesn't need to know that part yet. But yes, it's all in all just very neat. Would you like to look for some?” The last part was directed at Velora again, and she agreed easily enough. Vex described the plant, small, green leaves with a yellow-ish tint towards the edge, and they all started to keep an eye out for it.

They were walking uphill now, the path becoming more steep ahead of them and forcing them to slow down quite a bit, but they still made good headway. Still no glissfoil though. That didn't keep Velora from picking up more of her other miscellaneous items though, and when she finally ran out of space in her own pockets, the twins quickly offered to take some for her instead. The new jacket as well as her jeans were both streaked with dirt by now, not that she seemed to mind.

Halfway up the hill they took another break, Vex promising them that it wouldn't be much further now. And indeed, a good forty-five minutes later, they made it to the top. It really wasn't much more than a hill, but still offered a nice overview of the valley that now stretched out in front of them. Again, there was a bit of a clearing, and benches and tables cluttered around the centre of it.

But before Vax could suggest they settle down to enjoy the view a bit, Vex had already taken Velora by the hand and dragged her off to the edge, apparently very intent to show her something. So he sighed and followed suit, taking another sip from his water bottle.

“Alright, do you see the caves down there?” Vex asked, pointing them out for Velora as best as she could. “Right there, in the small dip between the cliffsides?”

Velora searched for it for a moment, but then nodded. “Yeah, yeah I see it. Why, what's in there? Can we go there?”

“No no no, that's definitely off the paths,” she replied quickly. “And even if it was allowed, it would probably be a bad idea. You know what kind of animal supposedly lives in those caves?”

The girl shook her head this time, but the look she gave Vex was very hopeful, so she seemed to have a pretty good idea at least.

Vex grinned. “Owlbears. Right there. It's just a few animals, who apparently broke away from the main herd a while ago for some reason, but ever since they've been sighted here, the path's become a lot more popular.”

As Vex had been talking, Velora's smile had already grown impossible wide. She stepped as close to the edge as she could now, staring at the entrance of the cave intensely. “Can we stay for a bit?” she asked quietly, as if already afraid to spook the animals away.

“Half an hour or so, sure,” Vex agreed. To Vax' surprise, she took a blanket out of her backpack. Which wasn't part of their usual luggage, which meant she'd been planning this, and why was he even surprised about this. But she put it down on the ground, leaving enough space for the three of them to settle down right there.

While they were waiting for something to happen, Vax got his knife out again from earlier, and started to twirl it around his fingers in an attempt to stay alert. Velora noticed it, of course, and watched him for a few moments with great curiosity.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” she asked finally. “You promised you'd teach me how to use the dagger, remember? The one you got me for my birthday.”

“Of course I remember,” he chuckled. “And yeah, I guess I can teach you how to do this, too... not with a knife though.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don't want to be responsible for any lost fingers, honestly. We'll start with a pen and you get to work your way up from there.” She still grumbled about that answer, but seemed satisfied enough by it. For now.

They spend a few more minutes looking out over the caves, but with no luck. Not a single owlbear reared it's head, and sitting on the ground was slowly getting cold. Velora was leaning against Vax by now, all but in his lap, and the journey seemed to be catching up with her as well. She looked a lot more tired by now then when they'd started their trip.

Before either of her siblings could fall asleep on her, Vex pushed them to move again. “Alright, I think that's enough time spend here,” she sighed, getting up and offering Velora a hand to pull her up. “Sorry we didn't see anything, darling.”

“It's fine, it was still really cool to see where they live,” Velora assured her, smiling again as she got to her feet and leaned over the edge just one more time. “Maybe we can come back one day, and have more luck then.”

“Yeah, why not. That sounds like a good idea,” Vax agreed, stifling a yawn. “Hey Stubby, how long until we're back at the car? Do we walk back the way we came?”

Vex shook her head and took a moment to study the map they'd taken with them. “It's a circular path, and the way back is way shorter. Shouldn't take more than an hour. You two ready to leave?”

She got two nods, so turned back around to lead the way again. Their little group was a lot more quiet on their way back though, a weary silence hanging over them, but at least it didn't diminish their fun in any way. Velora still looked around with an attentive eye, pointing out birds and other small critters when she saw them.

A good twenty minutes passed before she caught something a lot more interesting though. Right next to the path was a beaten track that had clearly been caused by some kind of animal, something big. The surrounding bushes and branches were damaged, showing that something had moved through them with little care.

Velora was the first there to investigate, and probably would have disappeared right into the forest had Vex not held her back. “What do you think did this? Do you think it's still here? Can it see us, do you think it's dangerous?” All her question came in quick succession, leaving Vex little time to answer.

Gently pushing her sister back towards Vax she ventured a few steps forward herself, trying to see if there actually was any danger to them. But it seemed like whatever had crossed the path here, it had done so a while ago.

“No, it's probably long gone,” she called back to the other two, turning around again to make her way back. Which was when she noticed them, lying on the ground just a few feet away from the path. A big, brown-ish feather, with black stripes all the way down, along with some smaller ones. Most of them were damaged in some way, but somehow, the big feather had remained unscathed. And she knew exactly what animal it came from.

Carefully picking it off the ground and holding it behind her back, she finally walked back to Vax and Velora. “Guess what I found,” she told her sister, grinning in the knowing way that only older siblings could pull off sometimes.

“What?”

“No, you have to guess,” she insisted, only seeming more amused when Velora rolled her eyes.

But the girl took the challenge, squinting slightly as if she was trying to see right through her sister. “Hmm... oh, you finally found Glissfoil!” She grinned widely, absolutely sure of herself and that she'd bested her sister in this somehow.

But Vex just shook her head. “Nu-uh. That would have been cool, too, I'll grant you that. But I found something way better.” Not wanting to torture her any longer though, she presented the feather, giving her a pointed look. “You know what this is from?”

It immediately got her an excited gasp, and with a gentle nudge from Vax Velora reached out, taking it into her own hands. “Wooow, this is so cool,” she whispered. “Do you think it's from one of the owlbears living in the caves?”

Vex nodded, briefly looking back to the spot where she'd found the feather. “We're not too far away, it's plausible. I hope that makes up a bit for not seeing one live.”

Velora nodded eagerly, still studying the feather closely. Then she looked from her new favorite possession to Vax, and seemed to get an idea. “Can you put it in my hair?” she asked, holding the feather out to her brother this time. “You know, like you sometimes do for Vex?”

“Oh... yeah, sure. C'mere,” he told her, pulling her a bit closer and turning her around, facing her away from him. “Stubby, you got a hairband?”

Vex didn't, but had no issue with taking out the one she was currently wearing, and Vax made quick work of the task in front of him. He produced the same trademark side-braid that was usually reserved for Vex, sure that she wouldn't mind, and then secured the feather behind one ear. It was a bit big, but all in all still looked very nice.

Velora was definitely happy, still brimming with excitement all the way back to the car. And despite the fact that she swore up and down that she didn't need anything else, the twins insisted on hitting the gift shop again before actually leaving. Velora ended up choosing a mug with, to no one's surprise, more owlbears printed on the front, and spend a few additional minutes fawning over a very nice selection of pocket knifes with Vax.

But before they knew it they were all back in the car, all the new souvenirs packed away in Velora's bag, and on their way home. It didn't take long either for a very slight snoring to start up in the car, both from the backseat and the shotgun position. They weren't even officially out of the park. But Vex didn't mind much, not even when Trinket joined her sleeping siblings halfway through. At least that way, no one could complain about her choice in music.


End file.
